Former clients of the Wind Gap mortgage company say supposed former CEO Walter "Buddy" Lambert used his position to misappropriate more than $5 million in what one suit calls a Ponzi scheme.

Most of the suits also claim Francis Cinelli, who headed the family trust that owned the business, either knew or should have known about mismanagement and did nothing. Cinelli's wife and two daughters have also been named in most of the 15 lawsuits.

All sides agree 20 bankers boxes of documents seized by the FBI in raids of the business and Cinelli's property are needed to prove what occurred at the business. Despite repeated requests, however, the bureau has not released any evidence and the case has stagnated for months.

At a hearing this morning, Judge Michael Koury asked a roomful of attorneys if they had filed a subpoena for the evidence as he suggested at the most recent hearing in September. It would be the most proactive way of gathering the evidence needed and would allow the cases to move forward so the alleged victims could attempt to reclaim their losses, he said at the time.

The attorneys had not and don't plan to file a subpoena, said John Vivian, who represents former Northampton County Councilman Nick Sabatine, who said he has lost $2.5 million in investments with Lambert between his savings, his family's savings and his business' pension plan.

The subpoena would interfere with the FBI's criminal investigation, he said, which he believes may expedite the civil cases if allowed to continue. The rest of the present attorneys agreed.

Koury said he would continue to review preliminary matters on rules that would apply to the cases. He scheduled another hearing in February for the attorneys to see how to move forward.